The franchise fund compliance calendar: 4-month statements, audits and 30-day delivery

• 30 June year end: statement and audit by 31 October, with copies to franchisees no later than 30 November if the statement is prepared on 31 October.
• 31 December year end: statement and audit by 30 April, with copies no later than 30 May.
• The audit waiver vote must happen within 3 months of year end, by 30 September or 31 March, and covers that year only.
• The rules apply to every specific purpose fund, including technology, refurbishment, training and conference funds, not just marketing.
• Fund money must sit in a separate account with a financial institution (s61(3)).
• Each obligation carries up to 600 penalty units: $218,400 per contravention from 1 July 2026.

1. 1 July 2026: the new financial year starts. Keep contributions flowing into the fund's separate account, with company-owned units paying on the same basis as franchisees (s61(2) and (3)).
2. By 30 September 2026: the last day for 75% of the franchisees who paid into the fund in 2025–26 to vote to waive that year's audit (s31(4)).
3. By 31 October 2026: prepare the 2025–26 statement (s31(2)(a)) and, unless the audit was waived, have it audited by a registered company auditor (s31(2)(c)(i)). If s21 applies to you, your annual disclosure document update is due the same day, attaching the most recently prepared fund statement (item 15(1)(g)).
4. By 14 November 2026: confirm or update your Franchise Disclosure Register profile (s93).
5. Within 30 days of preparing the statement: give each franchisee who pays into the fund a copy. If it was prepared on 31 October, the last day is 30 November 2026 (s31(2)(b)).
6. Within 30 days of receiving the auditor's report: give franchisees a copy (s31(2)(c)(ii)).

1. 1 January 2027: the new financial year starts, and the 2026 fund year closes.
2. By 31 March 2027: the last day for the 75% audit waiver vote for 2026 (s31(4)).
3. By 30 April 2027: prepare and, unless the audit was waived, audit the 2026 statement. If s21 applies to you, the annual disclosure document update is due the same day.
4. By 14 May 2027: confirm or update your Register profile (s93).
5. By 30 May 2027 at the latest: give franchisees the statement, if it was prepared on 30 April.
6. Within 30 days of receiving the auditor's report: give franchisees a copy.

Other year ends follow the same pattern: 3 months for the vote, 4 months for the statement and audit, then 30 days for each delivery. For a 31 March year end, that means a vote by 30 June, a statement by 31 July and delivery by 30 August at the latest.

• The Code: the statement must detail all of the fund's receipts and expenses, with enough detail to give meaningful information about sources of income and items of expenditure, particularly spending on the fund's specified purpose (s31(3)(a)).
• The percentage split: the share of total income spent on the fund's expenses, and the share spent on the reasonable costs of administering and auditing it (s31(3)(b)). Treasury describes this as the one change from the old fund rules.
• Income: the ACCC's model disclosure document guidance points to sources such as franchisee and company store contributions, and supplier rebates.
• Spending: the nature of the services bought, such as photography, brochures, website design, radio, print or general advertising, their price, and their geographic scope (local, state or national).
• No catch-all lines: in the ACCC's example, a 'social media' line making up 20% of the year's spend with no breakdown is unlikely to comply.
• Reasonable administration costs, according to the ACCC: external accountant fees for the fund audit, pro-rata wages of staff who manage the fund, pro-rata software for managing it, and bank fees.
• Unreasonable costs, according to the ACCC: audits or advice unrelated to the fund's purpose, inflated internal overheads, executive salaries, unrelated whole-of-business system licences, and legal costs not related to running the fund.

1. By default, a registered company auditor must audit each fund's statement within 4 months after year end (s31(2)(c)(i)).
2. The audit can be skipped only if, within 3 months after year end, 75% of the franchisees in Australia who paid into that fund during the year vote to agree (s31(4)).
3. The vote is per fund and per year. A waiver for 2025–26 doesn't carry over to 2026–27.
4. The ACCC's model disclosure document guidance says the 75% can include franchisor-owned franchises. Get advice on how you run and count the vote.
5. A waiver removes only the audit. You must still prepare the statement within 4 months and give it to franchisees within 30 days.
6. Keep the voting records. Anything a franchisee gives you in writing under the Code must be kept for at least 6 years (s37(1)).

• Keep a separate account with a financial institution for payments to each fund (s61(3)). The ACCC's guide says to move any existing balance into it.
• Pay into the fund for each company-owned unit on the same basis as franchisees (s61(2)).
• Spend fund money only on expenses of a kind disclosed in the disclosure document, legitimate expenses for the fund's purpose, or expenses a majority of paying franchisees agree to, plus reasonable administration and audit costs (s61(4)).
• Disclose in item 15 whether you or an associate supply goods or services the fund pays for, with details (item 15(1)(h)).
• Keep invoices, cost estimates and contracts that show administration charges are reasonable and proportionate, as the ACCC recommends.
• Timing: marketing and co-op funds were deemed compliant under the old rules until 31 October 2025 (s100), and other funds became subject to s31 and s61 on 1 November 2025 (s97(5)).

• Delicia Franchising (Delicia Acai + Protein Bar), December 2023: its marketing fund statements for 2020, 2021 and 2022 didn't give sufficient detail of receipts and expenses and weren't provided within 30 days. It admitted the breaches in a court-enforceable undertaking, paid an $11,100 infringement notice, and agreed to a corrective notice and a 3-year compliance program.
• Ultra Tune, March 2024: the Federal Court fined it $1.5 million for contempt of court for breaching 2019 court orders. The breaches included two late marketing fund statements, one almost 8 months late, a late disclosure document update, and three consecutive quarters of missing compliance reports.
• Venue Smart, August 2026: it paid $59,400 across three infringement notices for alleged failures to prepare a 2024–25 marketing fund statement, to keep a separate account for fund payments that year, and to provide Register information 14 days before signing an agreement. Paying an infringement notice is not an admission.
• The common thread is administrative: missed dates, a missing bank account and statements without enough detail.

• Every fund franchisees pay into is listed, with its year end and administrator.
• Each fund has its own account, and company-owned units contribute on the same basis.
• Your calendar shows vote, statement, audit and delivery dates for the next two years.
• The statement template shows income sources, itemised spending and the percentage split.
• Administration charges are pro-rata, documented and tied to the fund's purpose.
• The latest statement is attached to the disclosure document.
• Delivery of each statement and audit report is recorded for each franchisee.